Wood is active in advocating for the incorporation of DNA-based tools such as metabarcoding, genomics and metagenomics for characterising and understanding aquatic ecosystems and investigating the climate and anthropogenic drivers of water quality change in New Zealand lakes.
She has consulted for government departments and regional authorities and co-leads a nationwide programme Lakes380 that aims to obtain an overview of the health of New Zealand's lakes using paleoenvironmental reconstructions.
The report concluded that further detection of these cyanotoxins in other rivers in the Wellington region and instances of the unexpected death of stock gave reason for concern about the health risk to animals and humans.
[7] Wood explained in a later news article that finding the contents in the stomach of dogs had confirmed the need for research to inform people that Cyanobacteria was often present in rivers and while it should always be treated as potentially toxic, it was most dangerous when it formed mats.
Wood noted that there may be "tens of kilometres of New Zealand rivers covered with cyanobacteria mats producing the potentially lethal neurotoxin...[and]...in certain regions it [posed] a huge health risk".
[9] Further research focused on the value of these tools, and in 2015 Wood co-authored a journal article which concluded that genomics "provides an exciting new avenue to explore the genetic basis of toxin synthesis in complex environmental samples".
[11] In 2017, research led by Wood noted the importance of developing molecular techniques – such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction – to identify blue-green algal cyanobacterial cells (Phormidium) in water and distinguish toxic from nontoxic genotypes in microbial mat communities.
Wood has suggested that leaving uncut forest buffer zones of 100 metres beside rivers could make "a huge difference" to the amount of sediment washed in by rain.
[20] In a media interview on 17 January 2022, Wood made the case that rising water temperatures within New Zealand waterways could result in an increase of Cynobacteria containing cynatoxins, causing possible long-term health issues for people.
[25] Wood co-authored a 2018 study commissioned by the NZ Ministry of the Environment to inform the development of a National Objectives Framework for the management of anatoxins in waters affected by Phormidium blooms.
The report noted this study showed data would provide valuable information for the development of human health risk assessment models related to toxic blooms in rivers.
[30] On RNZ, Wood explained that the sediment cores would be analysed using DNA techniques to understand how and why the biological communities have changed, and gave an example of eDNA revealing the coinciding of cyanobacterial blooms in one lake with the introduction of introduced species of fish such as trout and European perch in the 1870s.
Wood noted that during the sampling, there would be considerable engagement with local Iwi, [who are] "important partners in this project because one of our major goals is to ensure our lakes are valued and protected – now and for generations to come and our ability to do so is greatly enhanced by incorporating mātauranga Māori and indigenous knowledge into the research".
[46][47] In 2009 she was second in the XTERRA New Zealand event,[48] and prior to taking part in a triathlon in Nelson in 2012, this success was acknowledged, with a local news article noting Wood was "strong on the road bike and can run pretty quickly on the flat".
[49] Speaking at the Nelson Mail and Network Tasman Top Student Awards in 2012, Wood said that passion, making the most of opportunities and learning from experience were what had driven her as a cyclist.